Fragrance house

Renato Balestra

Renato Balestra opened his first atelier in Rome in 1959, establishing the house on Via Gregoriana 36. The house presented its first haute couture collection at Rome’s Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna in 1961 and debuted at Florence’s Sala Bianca of Palazzo Pitti in 1963. Its creative identity is associated with Italian haute couture, Rome, artisanal work, distinctive textiles and colors, and the deep blue known as Balestra Blue, introduced in the 1960s. After registration in 1973, the house expanded beyond couture through licensing, including its first namesake perfume, Balestra, a women’s chypre-floral fragrance launched in 1978. In 2019, the Renato Balestra Archive, containing more than 40,000 sketches and drawings along with gowns, videos and press material, was declared of historical interest by Italy’s Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities. Renato Balestra entrusted the maison’s direction to his daughters Federica and Fabiana and granddaughter Sofia Bertolli Balestra in February 2022, and died in Rome that November. Sofia launched the Balestra prêt-à-porter line in 2021, presented its first collection in 2022, and assumed artistic direction the following year.